


Almagest

by rachel614 (orphan_account)



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, F/M, Fluff, Ptolemy is legit amazing, The solar system - Freeform, the explanatory authors note is nearly as long as the fic, the fluffiest of fluffs, with maybe just a teeeeensy bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-09 02:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17993537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/rachel614
Summary: “That’s the ecliptic,” he murmured in her ear. “You can see it yourself, if you pay attention. The sun, the moon, the visible planets—they all travel the same line across the sky.”----------------------Sherlock Holmes doesn't know that the Earth goes round the Sun.What hedoesknow might surprise you.





	Almagest

**Author's Note:**

> _Almagest_ : An influential treatise on astronomy written by the Greek astronomer and geographer Ptolemy in the second century AD.  
> Arabic in origin [al-majisṭī], means "the greatest".

_ "Beautiful, isn't it?" _

_ "I thought you didn't care about things like that." _

_ "Doesn't mean I can't appreciate it." _

 

* * *

 

 

The mobile was old, but in lovely condition. Golden wood set in polished brass, the arms precisely aligned. It hung suspended over the equally aged cot, guarding the youngest and tiniest Holmes scion.

 

“It’s a Ptolemaic model,” he said softly behind her.

“I’ve never seen a mobile this intricate before. It does feel a bit extravagant, even though I know it was yours,” she admitted. She ran her finger lightly across the slanted brass loop from which all the planets hung, with the notable exception of one. She felt his arms come around her as he tucked his chin into the crook of her neck.

“That’s the ecliptic,” he murmured in her ear. “You can see it yourself, if you pay attention. The sun, the moon, the visible planets—they all travel the same line across the sky.”

“What’re these circles? That the planets move on?”

“The epicycles. An intriguing solution to the problem of retrograde motion.”

“Retrograde motion? I don’t know much about astronomy.”

“The planets don’t move regularly across the sky. They slow, stop, even move backwards before speeding up again. Ptolemy accounted for this by having the planets move on their own tiny orbits around the ecliptic.”

“I might need a diagram or two, I’m afraid.”

He was silent for a long time, before saying perhaps a little too casually, “or I could show you, in the sky. It would take time. Regular trips out of London, so we could see the stars.”

“That sounds...really lovely, actually.”

His arms tightened around her, and she could almost feel his beaming smile pressed into her hair. After another long pause, she gave in and asked. “I thought you didn’t know anything about the solar system.” Again, he didn’t answer immediately, which didn’t surprise her.

“I am often astounded and appalled at the arrogance of the modern mind,” he said finally. “It is a flaw in many scientists to think that because those who came before us were in error, that they were foolish. Not so. The discoveries of each pioneer rely upon the work of centuries, each shining mind drawing us piece by piece towards the truth…

“I loved the stars, when I was a child. We all did. It was the one thing we did as a family without quarreling or boredom. Do you know, one of the first things Eurus said when she began to speak again was that she missed the stars? Mycroft had a skylight installed. She wept.”

Molly felt her own eyes sting and burn and she clasped her hands over his arms where they wrapped around her waist. It had been a long road towards forgiving Eurus, but she knew that Sherlock had grown to love her, despite everything. And she knew better than most that there was dignity in loving someone who did not deserve it. Knew, too, the power that love could have to  _ make _ someone deserving.

“Mummy took us out every night and taught us about the stars. Only she didn’t teach us the modern model, she taught us Ptolemy’s. She always said that even though his model was wrong, it was more beautiful to look at. She said the only interesting thing about Kepler’s model was the impossible maths. We did those too, eventually,” he added. “I found the maths boring and his style of prose rather absurd. He overused his metaphors.

 

“They still use Ptolemy’s model in naval navigation and planeyariums, did you know? Even now, his predictions are sufficiently accurate, and Kepler’s maths sufficiently difficult. And yet it is a mark of idiocy to believe that the sun goes round the earth. A work that for a thousand years was considered one of man’s greatest accomplishments is reduced to a single paragraph in a primary school textbook, recounting how foolish our predecessors were.”

Molly turned around in his arms, cradling his face in her hands. The bitterness faded from his eyes as he looked at her, replaced by a gentle affection.

“Why did you never say? Why did you let them tease you for so long?”

“You must remember, I had still not known John for very long. I was…unwilling to make available to him such a vital part of my childhood. I would rather he considered me a brilliant fool. Besides,” he added, “there truly are absurd gaps in my knowledge, as you well know. It just happens that astronomy was never truly one of them.”

“And now?”

“It never seemed necessary to correct him. But... I wish for our son to know the stars. In the most beautiful way he can.”

“Then he will,” she said simply, sliding her arms around his neck. He lowered his head, brushing soft, lingering kisses across her lips and cheeks and eyes and nose. Thy left her breathless with her happiness. She laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. They stood there in a sweet embrace, swaying in the echo of a waltz to the beat of their son’s tiny breathing.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, okay. First a teensy bit actually about Sherlock. I just love the idea of him ignoring the modern model in favor of the Ptolemaic. It's just a little bit of sentiment, that he carefully hides from everyone. Also the notion of mathematician Mummy Holmes only liking Kepler for his maths! And teaching her babies the geometry of the stars when they are only like five. (Did I mention that Ptolemy has a lot of math too? Except his is waaaay easier) And the _mobile_. Boy, do I want that mobile.
> 
> Okay, so, this was shameless fangirling over Ptolemy, I'm afraid. The rest of this note is essentially going to be a small essay on the wonders of astronomy, giving some background information behind the fic, so feel free to skip to the end and leave a kudos or a comment ;)  
> I _love_ Ptolemy.  
> Until my second year in college, I very much thought along the lines of those Sherlock is criticizing, here. Like, of course the Earth goes round the Sun. Copernicus was a brave hero who fought for his clearly right theory against the hide-bound scholastics of the day. Why would anyone think otherwise? Then I embarked on a four-years classical liberal arts program that uses only original works (ie, Euclid, Newton's Principia, Kant's Critique, etc. rather than textbooks on the same) and I was _blown away._ I distinctly recall finishing the semester on Ptolemy and feeling horribly lied to. Ptolemy was amazing! He was brilliant! You could go outside and watch the stars (the college is located in a lovely little valley up in the mountains of Southern California) and actually _see_ what he was talking about. Yes, his model isn't true to reality; the Earth is not in fact the fixed center of the universe. But that's not the point. Ptolemy himself admits that he is not trying explain how the planets actually are, but merely giving a geometrical account for the appearances--That is, finding a mathematical order in the cosmos.  
> And he did so _beautifully._ As Sherlock says, the Ptolemaic model is still used today in many planetariums and even naval navigation, since Kepler's math is _really_ difficult, even for computers, and while Ptolemy's predictions aren't 100%, they are still incredibly accurate. Honestly, that's probably the craziest thing--that a system which is "completely backwards" can give such excellent results.  
> A note on Copernicus and Kepler: they are both brilliant. I freely admit that, and can't honestly disparage them. However, it is of interest to note that while Copernicus laid the ground work for the heliocentric theory by showing that retrograde motion (seriously, look up some diagrams, or get a personal Sherlock) can be accounted for without the epicycles by adding or subtracting the motion of the earth from that of the other planets, he _did_ sacrifice significant accuracy in his predictions due to his determination to adhere to perfectly circular orbits. In fact, the whole reason he departed from Ptolemy's model was because it wasn't as perfectly circular as Copernicus wanted it to be. Ironically, the man who is celebrated for bringing us closer to the reality laid out a _less accurate model_ for the sake of ideology.  
> Kepler got it right. Kepler is cool. He, unlike Ptolemy, was actually trying to give a physical account, which is why he does awful maths but also talks about magnetism (a precursor to Newton's theory of universal gravitation). His maths really are awful, though. Brilliant, but awful to try and get through. And he really does use quite colorful metaphors, which I enjoyed but I suspect Sherlock would not.
> 
> My whole point of this diatribe, though, is that Ptolemy is amazing. And frankly, Kepler could not have done what he did without the ground work laid by Copernicus and Ptolemy (also Tycho Brahe, but that's another story lol). And even though Ptolemy's theory has been disproved, his model is still one of the most beautiful things I've ever come across, and I would absolutely _love_ a Ptolemaic mobile for my kid. It would be so excessive. And so frickin' cool. GO LEARN ABOUT ASTRONOMY GUYS ITS REALLY COOL.
> 
> In Newton's words "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants." We've come a long, long way in our science. And the extent of our progress should lead us not to discount the early thinkers, but to hold them in higher reverence, because it was _their_ shining minds which set us on the right path to begin with.
> 
> (And if you read this whole author's note, frankly _you_ deserve a kudos!)


End file.
